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Runes
Runes are magical symbols, inscribed onto weapons and armour to confer magical powers. Characters with the Rune Lore skill may be able to identify runes - the gamesmaster should roll the dice secretly and, depending on the results, inform the player of the rune's identity, give false information or none at all. Runes are only effective when they are active - an active rune glows dimly with a golden light. Inactive runes become dim but are still visible. Those runes which are likely to become inactive are indicated below. Unless stated otherwise, the effect of two or more runes of the same kind is not cumulative; only one rune can take effect at a time. Dwarven Runes Dwarf magic has developed differently from the other races of the Old World. Instead of using spells, they use a system of runes, which are inscribed into weapons and other items by master-craftsmen known as runesmiths. It is a discipline that requires years of study and much sweat and manual labour, as well as skill and single-minded dedication. Only Dwarfs possess the strength and patience to master its ancient and jealously-guarded secrets and runesmiths are highly respected members of their communities. Although their secrets and the items they create are traditionally kept for their own race, some of the greatest heroes in the Old World have wielded weapons created by runesmiths, including Sigmar himself, whose warhmmer Ghal-maraz is said to have been made by the personal runesmith of the Dwarf-King Kargan Ironbeard. Although Runesmithing is a skill only known to the Dwarfs, some of its techniques have fallen into the hands of human mages, who style themselves 'rune masters'. The Dwarfs regard this as a betrayal of their racial secrets. Many people have found, to their misfortune, that owning an item created by a human rune master is, in the eyes of many Dwarfs, an unpardonable crime. The Rules Of Runic Magic Runic magic items are all subject to the following seven rules (except in a few special cases, which are discussed in the relevant rune's description): #'Rule Of Three' - No item can have more than three runes inscribed upon it at the time of forging. It is virtually impossible to craft items that can bear the strain of carrying so much power. #'Rule Of Form' - Weapon runes can only be inscribed on weapons, armour runes on armour, engineering runes on war machines, etc. There are a small number of exceptions to this rule; if a rune can be engraved onto different materials, this is noted in its description. See the Rune Forms Table. #'Rule Of Pride' - No more than one item in a 100-yard radius may carry the same combination of magic runes. All runic items violating this rule will become inert for the duration of their relative proximity. #'Rule Of Jealousy' - No more than one Master Rune can be inscribed on an item. In addition, no more than one item in a 100-yard radius may carry the same Master Rune (in any combination). All runic items violating this rule will become inert for the duration of their relative proximity. #'Rule Of Combination' - Apart from Master Runes, other runes can be combined to produce varied or cumulative effects. For example, a weapon with three Runes Of Fury (+1 A) gives the wielder three additional attacks. #'Rule Of Dislike' - It is impossible to inscribe runes, even temporary runes, onto magic items crafted by sorcerous means. Violation of this rule will result in an explosion that destroys the magical weapon and causes D6 S'4 hits on anyone within a 10-foot radius. #'Rule Of Disharmony - Non-Dwarfs are not fully attuned to runic magic. Thus, no matter how many runic items a non-Dwarf carries, only the least powerful (in terms of level) three runes will be functional and the rest inert. GMs should determine which runes are active once the non-Dwarf character possesses items that total more than three runes. Any attempt to violate the seven rules of Runic magic will inevitably fail, as no runesmith is currently capable of weaving so much magical power into a single item. In addition, a massive magical explosion will inevitably result. (The explosion causes a single S''' 8 hit on everything within a 12-yard radius of the item, and a '''S 4 hit on everything between 12 and 24 yards from it.) Category:Rules Category:Magic Category:Items